ORNITHOLOGICAL LITERATURE 
647 
which have been lost from most terrestrial 
systems and how their impacts on herbivores 
have resulted in dramatic shifts in plant commu¬ 
nity composition and. ultimately, the management 
necessary in these systems. A large emphasis is 
placed on the role of mega-herbivores which, like 
apex predators, have largely disappeared from 
many ecosystems. These mega-herbi\ ores are key 
drivers in plant structure and composition; the 
need for fire as a conservation tool is likely more 
important with decreased numbers of mega¬ 
herbivores providing grazing pressure and periodic, 
potentially intense, disturbances to ecosystems. 
Some general guidelines for strong interactions 
begin to emerge relative to ecosystem complexity 
and links with the theory of island biogeography, 
and strength of relationships across trophic levels 
can be generalized. For example, strong cascades 
can he observed when species diversity is low on 
smaller or more remote islands and when there is 
kw functional redundancy (i.c.. simple ecosystems 
with few species that can be removed and their role 
compensated by other members of the community). 
Part three addresses the process of predation 
and the results of shifts in predator composition 
on lower trophic level predators (o.g.. mesopre- 
dalors) and behavioral responses of prey. Remov¬ 
al of lop predators and increased role of human 
influences on the landscape have resulted in 
altered ecosystem composition where mesopreda- 
tors thrive in the absence of top-down forces and 
with subsidized food and habitat conducive for 
them to nourish. Furthermore, mesopredator and 
herbivore behavior is altered in systems devoid of 
apex predators. Comparisons of ungulate behavior 
demonstrate fear-mediated responses of predators 
with higher vigilance and larger group sizes in 
areas with reintroduced or remaining predators 
relative to predator-void areas. 
The authors emphasize predator persecution 
which has occurred across much of the world. 
Using case studies in the Serengeii. they demon¬ 
strate the need to study remote, more natural areas 
where intact ecosystems containing top predators 
and mega-herbivores still remain. It is only in 
these systems that we can truly observe the 
potential impacts of top predators and trophic 
cascades without the huge anthropogenic impacts 
found in about 90% of the world's ecosystems. 
Part four is a synthesis of the findings of this 
book that highlights the implications associated 
with accepting the paradigm shift that predators 
are critical in ecosystem diversity and stability, and 
the conservation and management considerations 
that will help revive degraded ecosystems. It is 
in this section that the editors and contributing 
authors summarize evidence from previous chap¬ 
ters on a variety of ecosystems that top predators 
and trophic cascades are important in understand¬ 
ing ecosystem functions with the recognition there 
are different levels of strength to cascading effects 
based on community composition and complexity. 
Evidence is presented throughout this book that 
predators can have immediate impacts on fitness 
and provide an immediate fitness consequence that 
shapes prey populations directly and indirectly. 
Oversimplification of processes as mutually exclu¬ 
sive top-down or bottom-up drivers will not result 
in scientific progress; rather, we need to re-evaluate 
the ingredients of truly natural systems and what 
has been lost in the human-dominated landscape. 
We must recognize we can not erase the human 
footprint to be able to properly conduct conser¬ 
vation and management. We can. however, work 
to maintain habitat connectivity and encourage re¬ 
establishment of top predators and critical players 
to ecosystems to attempt to prevent further de¬ 
gradation of ecosystem functions.—SUSAN N. 
ELLIS-FELEGE. Assistant Professor. University 
of North Dakota, Department of Biology, 10 
Cornell Street. Stop 9019, Grand Forks, ND 
58202, USA; e-mail: susan.felege@email.und.edu 
A FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF NEW 
ZEALAND. By Julian Fitter and Don Merton. 
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 
USA 2011: 288 pages, more than 600 color 
photographs, 3 maps. ISBN: 978-0-691-15351-3. 
$24.95 (paper).—This new addition to the Prince¬ 
ton Pocket Guide Series covers New Zealand 
(North. South, and Stuart islands), the Kennadec 
Islands to the north, and the islands as far south as 
the sub-Antarctic Campbell Island groups. New 
Zealand has a long history of bird exploitation and 
extinction, beginning with the arrival ol the Maori 
and subsequent annihilation ot the Moa species 
(Order Dinornithiformes), followed by the wave of 
European immigrants with a species extinction as 
recently as 1972. It is not surprising this is 
discussed in the introductory material which 
applauds recent conservation initiatives, including 
those by the late Don Merton, one of the authors, 
and highlights the sanctuaries and reserves that 
offer birders an opportunity to see birds that 
otherwise might be extinct. 
